Fly, Little Butterfly
by trolltasm
Summary: Kagome returns to her friends but life doesn't go the way she anticipates. Without purpose, she begins to wander but the path her wanderings take her on could have never been anticipated—by Kagome herself or Sesshomaru, who discovers, much to his own discernment, that she just might be the solution to his own problems. Three-shot
1. Chapter 1

It was an odd feeling, Kagome reflected, not having a place to belong. And it was made worse still by the knowledge that everyone else's lives were moving on without her.

Sango and Miroku had just welcomed their fifth child. Kohaku himself had settled down with Rin, who was expecting the couple's first child. Ayame and Koga had welcomed three children at once and the most recent update she'd received suggested Ayame was pregnant again, though the triplets were scarcely a year old. Soten had proposed to Shippo and though both were still young in Kagome's eyes, they would be married the next year and she doubted it would be long after before children came into the picture there as well.

Though no one went out of their way to make her feel unwelcome, the truth was that she wasn't. Without children of her own, she had trouble relating to the changes in her friends' lives. Without a husband, she couldn't even empathize with the ups and downs of their own relationships. Every time she was with her friends, she was all too aware of the growing distance between them.

It hurt, made all the worse because as she'd begun to withdraw, no one had seemed to notice. No one went out of their way to invite her back into the group nor did they even seem to notice her absence.

She found herself spending more and more time by the well, though she knew how pitiful she must have looked, staring down into the well that had once led home. The last time she'd climbed out of it, InuYasha had promised her everything. He'd given her his heart and she'd thought that this time—_finally_—he'd meant it.

In the end, he hadn't.

He found settling down too difficult. He was often restless and was quick to volunteer any help he could within the village and to any neighboring villages, especially if it involved yokai in need of slaying. As time went on, he spent more and more time away until he stopped coming home to her at night. In the beginning, at least, he'd always come home to sleep beside her, but that had stopped months ago.

Oh, he still randomly stopped by to stay the night, but it never lasted long. A day or two, usually three max, and he'd be gone again, off slaying this or helping with that.

And Kagome was left holding the bag open to her empty heart.

What would happen, she wondered, if she fell back into the well and injured herself? Would anyone notice? How long would it take them? And then how much longer to find her? She could very well die in the well before anyone realized anything was wrong, let alone that she was missing.

If they noticed at all.

And what if she just walked away one day and never returned? How long would it take them then? InuYasha was the only one who could track her down by scent now that Shippo was finishing his last assessment at school and he wasn't in the village at the moment. How far could she travel before they noticed? How much farther before they found InuYasha and had him track her down?

_Would_ he track her down?

She sighed, at war with herself. She didn't want to stay but she was afraid of leaving. This was all she had left since she'd returned and she was under no illusions that the rest of Japan was any better off than the well. Nobunaga would be uniting the country soon, if he wasn't already doing so, but it would take time for the warring to die down and the deaths to cease. And even then, bandits would likely still be a problem for awhile yet.

If she left, she'd leave the safety of the village and her bow, though now infused with her powerful reiki, would do her little good in close combat or against swords.

But if she stayed, she would die a little more inside each day until she ceased caring about any of her friends. At least if she left, she could come back and visit and reminisce about the good times they'd once had together.

Finally, as the sun rose high in the sky, she made her decision. She'd leave.

And she would tell no one.

.

Kagome had been traveling for a week before she resigned herself to the realization that no one was coming after her. They would have noticed her absence by then, if only to treat some minor aliment now that Kaede had passed last winter. InuYasha, though he wandered often, was rarely more than a few days away from the village and he could travel quickly, she knew, thinking back to the days when he used to carry her around.

She'd packed all of her supplies and carried them with her in a feudal-made version of the backpack she'd once carried. Sango had made it for her as a welcome home present and, ever practical, had even managed to make one with a plethora of pockets to carry smaller items and herbs in it as well.

Still, she estimated she could only travel another week or two before she'd have to stop somewhere and resupply. Without money, she'd either have to reply on people's kindness to a traveling priestess or she'd have to find some work to do, like peddling her herbal remedies, to buy new supplies. She just didn't know as much about living off the land as Sango and Miroku had.

Not for the first time, she wished she'd paid more attention to their work when they'd all been traveling together.

But she wouldn't turn back. She'd simply have to find a solution to her problem as it became more dire.

.

She hadn't really paid much attention to the direction she'd been traveling when she set out, partially because she'd hoped her friends would prove her wrong and come find her. When they hadn't, she hadn't been bothered to care about where she went. What did it matter, anyway?

But to her surprise, Kagome found herself standing before the largest magnolia tree she'd ever seen, imbued with a quiet but steady supply of yoki.

_A yokai tree, then_, she thought to herself, remembering the last yokai tree she'd come across. This one lacked the malevolent aura the man-eating yokai tree had had, but that didn't necessarily mean it would be happy to see her or willing to point her in the direction of the nearest human village, either.

_But I have to try._

She shifted her weight before the tree, cautiously trying to wake it up without overtly disturbing and possibly angering it.

"Um...?" she tried, but got no response. "Hello, Grandfather Magnolia Tree?"

She hoped she'd struck the proper reverence for what was undoubtedly an old yokai tree but when it failed to respond, she began to think she'd bothered it so much it was ignoring her.

After several more unsuccessful tries, she gave up. The sun was beginning to set, anyway, so she decided she might as well settle down for the night. Maybe the tree would be more accommodating in the morning. She settled down against the branches of what she hoped were a neighboring tree, had a cold dinner for herself, and curled up to sleep, not daring to use a campfire so close to the yokai tree.

.

"Do you intend to sleep away the day, child?"

Kagome blinked as she forced her crusty eyes open, struggling to find the source of the deep masculine voice she'd heard.

"No...?" Her voice was hoarse as she found herself looking up at the old tree. Unlike the day before, a face appeared within the trunk, looking down at her with what she decided was a most grandfatherly expression. "I guess I overslept, though," she added, noting the sun was much higher than when she normally awoke.

She got to her feet and stretched as the tree sighed.

"My roots were getting quite stiff. I can only imagine how you must feel," the magnolia tree said with no small degree of amusement.

She flushed. "I'm so sorry!" She bowed her head as she realized she'd misjudged which tree the roots belonged too. She hastily began cleaning up her makeshift camp, rolling up the light blankets she'd brought from her hut. InuYasha had given them to her as a future wedding present for a wedding they'd ultimately never had.

The tree chuckled. "It is alright, child. One tree's roots looks much like another. But why would you sleep here without your friends or InuYasha?"

"Oh." She felt the blood leave her face just as quickly as it had rushed in. "It's complicated. You know who I am?"

The tree seemed to study her. "This old tree has made it a priority to know, Kagome, Shikon priestess." One of his branches seemed to bend, as if he was offering her the tree version of a handshake.

She hesitantly took it.

"It is nice to finally meet you," the tree said as she pulled her hand away again. "I am called Bokuseno."

"It's nice to meet you, too," she said politely, relieved when the tree did seem genuinely happy to see her. "But I'm not the Shikon priestess anymore. The jewel is gone. I wished for it to disappear."

"Did it?" If the tree had human eyebrows to raise, she had the feeling he would have raised one. "The power would have had to go somewhere, Kagome. That much power cannot simply just disappear."

Kagome was taken aback. "But where would it go?" she asked, reflecting back on the moment she'd made the wish. "It _looked_ like it disappeared."

"Perhaps the jewel itself did." Bokuseno seemed amused, as if he knew far more than he was letting on. "Tell this old tree, Kagome. Did you know the jewel was inside you before?"

She shook her head. "No, but there's good reason for that. The jewel had little power in my time. There's no magic or yokai or reiki left."

"Ah, I see." Bokuseno's branches rustled and she wondered if that was his way of laughing. "Then you must have sensed it when you arrived in this era."

Kagome blinked. "No. I was just as surprised as anyone else when that centipede bit it out of me."

"Then how would you know if the power had returned to you?" the tree challenged.

"I guess I wouldn't," she replied, not liking where the conversation had gone.

"Hmm." The tree seemed to stare at her. "Perhaps you should consult with Sesshomaru, Kagome. His library in the west is most extensive."

Kagome sighed heavily. "Sesshomaru isn't going to like me just showing up unannounced."

The tree's eyes closed. "Then tell him I sent you," the tree replied, sounding distracted. "That should amuse him."

Kagome didn't find the situation amusing at all, but Bokuseno had already drifted off to sleep and she realized she wasn't likely to get anything else out of him. She didn't even know where Sesshomaru was, let alone how to find him. His visits with Rin had grown increasingly infrequent as she'd matured. Once she'd married, they'd seemed to cease altogether.

Unless Sesshomaru had found a way to visit without anyone else in the village knowing, that was.

She sighed as she set out, this time more careful to ensure that she took a more westerly path. She may not know where or how to find him, but if he had the best library in the west, then it stood to reason that somewhere in the west he'd made his home.

.

Sesshomaru sat at his desk in his shiro, annoyed at the missive in front of him. No amount of cajoling, begging, or threatening would have him marrying anyone without his own expressed desire to do so and the attempts were frankly pathetic.

Still, they would have to be addressed in turn. But not today. He felt stifled in the shiro, as he often did. It did not feel like a home, more like a silk-encased prison, and he took every opportunity he could find to travel his lands and protect them, as his father had before him.

Today would be no different. He would take his time and when he returned, he would answer the obnoxious missives. Perhaps by then, he would no longer feel quite so driven to hunt down each and every whiny father and ensure those pitiful words would be their last. If they sought an answer sooner, Jaken was more than adept enough to handle the situation until his return.

His father had dealt with it by marrying quickly and young, but Sesshomaru was in no mood to settle for the first acceptable female that crossed his path. His mother had proven a formidable ally in her own right, though his father had been more impressed by her innate power. Sesshomaru, on the other hand, was already the most powerful being in Nippon. It was unlikely any wife, no matter how carefully chosen, would even come close to his own power, so what was the point?

He left the shiro on a cloud, wanting to get some distance away before he began walking the length of his lands. Perhaps, he reflected, the answer to his problems would come to him as he walked around in quiet reflection. If he was lucky, it would come to him sooner than later.


	2. Chapter 2

Kagome hadn't anticipated walking into Sesshomaru—literally.

"Priestess," he greeted her tonelessly with a slight incline of his head.

She glowered up at him as she got to her feet, brushing twigs, leaves, and dirt off of her rear. "Hello, Sesshomaru," she said as casually as she could, considering the fact that Sesshomaru had simply allowed her to fall without trying to stop her.

And they both knew he had the reflexes to do so if he'd really wanted to.

"Where is the hanyo?" he asked her after a brief glance around her seemed to tell him that she was, in fact, alone.

She shrugged. "Off somewhere. Doing something important, I guess. Probably slaying some yokai causing trouble, if I had to guess, but he knows for sure."

Sesshomaru wasn't able to fully conceal his surprise as his brows raised. "He is not with you."

It wasn't a question but she nodded anyway. "I'm traveling on my own for awhile. Actually, I was looking for you," she added, remembering her interaction with the magnolia tree several days ago. "This old magnolia tree yokai told me you have an impressive library and I was hoping you'd let me research something."

He looked even more astonished and dropped his prior line of questioning. "You met Bokuseno?" he asked her slowly, as if he was having trouble believing her words himself.

"I think that's what he said his name was," she mused, replaying the conversation in her head again. "He seemed like he knew you. He even said that I should tell you that he sent me."

She was beginning to think the tree yokai had been playing some sort of elaborate joke. Sesshomaru looked even less amused, his lips thinning as he took in her words.

"Hnn." He pressed his lips together. "And what was it that he felt this one's library would contain?"

Kagome hesitated and then decided she might as well tell Sesshomaru the whole truth. "The jewel," she admitted quietly. "He thought he sensed the jewel's power within me. Or something like that; he didn't exactly speak straight."

Sesshomaru's lips quirked briefly as she watched, fascinated. Was Sesshomaru _amused_? "He rarely does," Sesshomaru acknowledged. "Very well. This one will honor his grand sire's retainer's...request."

The way he spoke the last word suggested that he knew it had been anything but and Kagome privately suspected this hadn't been the first time he'd been stymied after an interaction with the old tree yokai.

Still, it wouldn't hurt her to acknowledge his acceptance. "Thank you, Sesshomaru," she said, inclining her head in what she hoped he'd see as respectful. "What were you doing out here, anyway?"

"Attempting to resolve an irritation," was his answer as a cloud formed beneath his feet. She rushed to scramble on board before he left her behind, as she wasn't sure he wouldn't if she didn't hurry. "Instead, this one seems to have discovered another to take its place."

Kagome pressed her lips together as she flushed but she didn't dare argue as he took to the air.

For all she knew, he might just allow her to tumble off his cloud if she did.

.

The library in Sesshomaru's shiro was more than just impressive; it was able to rival one in her own time, despite the fact that this was over five hundred years in the past. There were scrolls upon scrolls tucked into small cubbies and he'd even managed to amass books, though Japan hadn't fully switched over to that form of writing yet. The library was large enough to be a wing of the shiro in and of itself, if it had been regular rooms instead of one large room, and it even had several areas to sit and read in relative comfort.

"Wow," she breathed, astonished. "I didn't realize it would be so big. Do you like reading that much, Sesshomaru?"

He raised a brow. "All of this was hardly amassed by this one alone, priestess," he rebuked her, though it was without malice. "This one's ancestor began the effort, though each generation expands the collection. There is no other like it in all of Nippon."

She believed him, privately suspecting that even the Emperor's own library would be found lacking compared to Sesshomaru's own, if only for the collection of foreign writing that Sesshomaru had obtained.

"Where would I find writings on the jewel?" she asked, eying the library uneasily. It was so large that if she was left to amble about it on her own without direction, it would easily take the rest of her life to find what she was seeking.

Sesshomaru had turned to leave her in the library but at her words, he turned and eyed the expanse of his library. "This one knows not. Though the collection is impressive, there has not been a formal catalog system implemented."

She gaped at him. "You're joking."

The seriousness of his expression told her he was anything but.

"It has been unnecessary." He ran a hand through his hair. "It has always been the mates of this one's line that have maintained the library but as this one is yet unmated, you will simply have to locate the pertinent scrolls on your own. Regrettably, this one's mother had little interest in the works collected here and would summon one of her handmaidens to locate a scroll if she had any interest in reading something."

Kagome rubbed her temples, feeling a headache coming on in the face of his massive library, all uncatalogued. "And no one bothered to set up a system for their descendants to use, I take it," she groused.

He shrugged. "If they did, this one's mother has not passed such knowledge down to him."

"Right." She sighed heavily but it wasn't like she had anything else pressing to do. She'd search for a scroll on the jewel on her own but she might as well organize the library as she went. Otherwise, it would be all too easy to forget where she'd checked and where she hadn't in the multitude of shelves and rows of writing.

"If you require sustenance or rest, you may ring the bell there," he said, indicating the roped bell with a small wave of his hand, "and a servant will arrive to attend to you."

He turned to leave again.

"Sesshomaru," she called after him as he paused once more. "Thank you."

He left without a word, though she swore she saw him incline his head slightly in response.

.

As it turned out, organization of the massive library was easier said than done. Kagome didn't even bother to pay much attention to the passage of time, hardly noting it as anything but a reminder to sleep or wake and get to work. The days quickly blended together in the face of her monumental task.

Though she didn't know the dewey decimal system, she'd worked out a system of her own, cataloging writing by type and subject. She found the most expedient way to start was to designate a series of shelves for one topic or another, clear them off, and then begin filing away work.

But no matter how much she read, she hadn't found a trace of the jewel on the shelves in Sesshomaru's library.

One night, Sesshomaru reappeared in the library. "The servants stated that you had begun to rearrange the library," he noted calmly as he stepped up next to her. "It seems that they were correct when they indicated you had used rice paper to indicate what was on each shelf."

She looked up at the labels she'd made when she'd gotten the paper, ink, and brush she'd requested. "We use something similar back home," she admitted, flushing slightly under his scrutiny.

"Hnn." He eyed a label "It is a sensible solution."

That, she decided, was the closest Sesshomaru had ever come to a direct compliment.

"Perhaps you should organize the entire library even after you have located your scrolls," he added, idly running a hand through his hair. "It would be a most gracious gift in turn for the use of the library."

She blanched but didn't argue. She could always leave once she'd found what she wanted if the task grew too daunting. "Sure," she agreed weakly, not even bothering to remind him that she hadn't even made it through a tenth of his library.

They were both silent for a moment.

"There may be guests arriving in the next few days." He seemed amused as she started, as surprised by his sudden announcement as she was by the words themselves.

"Who?" she asked, unable to believe Sesshomaru would ever willingly entertain anyone.

"No one of any importance." His expression was flat. "However, it would be a bigger nuisance to turn them away. It would be to your benefit not to interact with any of them."

From that, she gathered that Sesshomaru didn't want to advertise that he had a human staying within the walls of his own shiro.

She shrugged. She didn't really care what he did with his own time, nor did she really want to meet his guests, especially if they weren't receptive of humans. "Understood."

To her surprise, he didn't leave. Instead, he lounged on one of the cushions closest to the shelf she was working on and watched her as she tried not to fidget under his scrutiny.

"Umm..." She licked her lips. "Did you want to read a scroll?"

He was silent another moment. "Tell this one exactly what Bokuseno said to you."

Surprised, she nonetheless recounted the conversation as best as she recalled it, though she was careful to change the part about her time to where she was from instead. She didn't know what Sesshomaru would do if he knew the truth but she didn't want to find out, either. For all she knew, he might try to insist on going through the well, closed or not, and she didn't think he'd like the well refusing him access.

"Hnn." He stared at her, his expression suddenly shifting to open curiosity. "How unusual."

She blinked. "Which part?"

_She_ found the entire conversation odd but she was curious to hear Sesshomaru's thoughts. After all, he knew the other yokai well enough for the other yokai to address him without his title.

"That you did not sensed the jewel within you prior to its removal." He eyed her side as her hands reflexively went to cover it. "This one would see the scar, priestess."

He tried to soften the demand to a request but failed, she noted mirthlessly.

"Um." She bit the inside of her lip. Before, when she'd worn clothes from her era, it wouldn't have been too difficult to pull up her shirt and expose her side without exposing the rest of her, but she'd changed her attire when she'd come here for good. At first, she'd solely dressed as a priestess and though she'd brought those clothes with her, hoping it would give her access to room and board when needed, she as often as not wore a simple kimono.

That was what she was wearing today. Her bra had since fallen apart, as had her modern undergarments, and so she was all but naked underneath in all the ways that mattered.

"You married the hanyo," he said, shifting gears so quickly that she couldn't keep up.

"Huh?" She blinked at him.

"It is not the first time a male would see your flesh," he explained, looking momentarily annoyed that he'd had to explain himself in the first place.

"Yeah, well, InuYasha and I aren't married anymore," she blurted, resisting the urge to clutch her lapels together.

He looked visibly surprised. "Hnn." He studied her for another moment and then said, "This one merely wished to see the truth of Bokuseno's words. This one may be able to sense if the jewel returned to its original location within you."

She considered that; she wanted to know but she still wasn't comfortable with Sesshomaru staring at her half-naked body.

But she also sensed that he wasn't going to drop the matter, either, and consoled herself with the reminder that Sesshomaru wasn't likely to care what she looked like, naked or not. After all, she was human.

Finally, she nodded and loosened her obi as she did her best to expose her side to him without showing off the rest of her. It was a near thing, but she managed to pull her other lapel over enough to cover her enough for modesty's sake.

"Hnn." He rose from the cushion and moved to loom over her as he studied the scar. "It is most curious... There is, indeed, something unusual about this scar, priestess, though this one knows not what it is. He has not sensed anything like this before."

He stepped back, allowing her room to cover herself properly once more. "This one will be most interested in learning what you find in the scrolls on such a jewel," he continued, his eyes still on the scar, though it was now covered.

"Okay," she agreed though it hadn't been a question. "Well... I'm going to get back to organizing." She turned her gaze back to the scrolls before her.

When she looked over towards him again, he was gone.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Alrighty, here's your last chapter! I'm debating an epilogue but it remains to be seen at this point._

_As always, your reviews and kudos motivate me to write more so thank you all for continuing to motivate me to write._

* * *

It was the day Sesshomaru's guests arrived that Kagome located a scroll that she felt positive had to do with the jewel itself.

The scroll itself had been tucked away at the back of one of the shelves, haphazardly tossed upright while other scrolls had been stacked more neatly and horizontally after it. A quick glance at it that morning had her unimpressed, but when she'd reviewed the scroll, she'd quickly changed her mind about its value.

While the scroll hadn't specifically identified the jewel by name, it had referred to a jewel made up of the souls of yokai and a priestess, and its power represented the four spirits within a mortal heart: courage, wisdom, friendship, and love. According to the scroll, when the heart was fully in balance—the scroll took great pains to state that the balance _must_ be positive—with each spirit at its maximum potential, the jewel could be utilized at its fullest potential.

If she read the scroll correctly, it seemed to suggest that while the evil could be purified and removed from the jewel—Kagome shuddered at the reminder of Magatsuhi and the fate he'd tried to force upon her—the jewel itself would remain on, now able to be used.

However, the jewel itself would not necessarily become 'good,' nor would it become 'evil.' Rather the scroll argued that the jewel could be used by any whose heart was balanced with a full understanding of its four souls, and therefore, the jewel would always require a keeper.

_So did the jewel choose me as its keeper?_ Kagome rubbed at her temples, but the answer was not directly forthcoming, no matter how long she lingered in the library.

All in all, it had given Kagome quite the headache trying to understand the cryptic message of the jewel and not for the first time, she'd wished she'd paid more attention to the Shinto beliefs her grandfather was constantly espousing. She could always consult with Miroku, but his Buddhist wisdom would not be as helpful as say, Kaede, who Kagome dearly wished hadn't passed on the winter before.

She sighed as she sagged against the floor, uncaring that she was probably wrinkling her kimono as she lay in an unladylike position. No one except Sesshomaru and the occasional servant ever came to the library, so it wasn't like she had anyone to impress.

What if the jewel really hadn't disappeared? Kagome pondered the question. It wasn't that she doubted her grandfather's wisdom—because she wouldn't put it past him to be wrong, _again_; all she had to do was think of his many charms that never seemed to work to prove her point there—or his lore that said the jewel would vanish with a pure wish.

_Wouldn't it?_

Or had her wish not been pure enough? But if that was the case, would the jewel have even been properly cleansed in the first place?

As she puzzled over the question, she suddenly remembered Bokuseno's words. _The power would have had to go somewhere, Kagome. That much power cannot simply just disappear._

That question had sent her mild whirling and when she'd questioned him about it, Bokuseno continued to suggest that the power had returned to her. The old magnolia tree yokai certainly knew more than he was letting on but she had the feeling that he derived far greater enjoyment from her bemusement than he'd receive in giving her any answers.

_Ugh_, she thought to herself, covering her eyes with her arm, _I need food. I can't think on this on an empty stomach._

"You!" a voice suddenly hissed, startling Kagome into sitting upright.

She blinked at the yokai before her. The young woman was dressed far too elaborately to be one of Sesshomaru's servants, leaving Kagome to assume that the other woman must have been one of the guests he'd referred to the other day.

The other woman was filled with such fury that she was positively sparking with it. One quick glance was all Kagome needed to realize that this woman was inuyokai. Her long hair was black and her eyes were a stunning oceanic blue-green, highlighted by the delicate golden marks surrounding them. Unlike Sesshomaru, she carried no mark on her forehead, but it was obvious that she was a yokai of some strength—though her strength would have been like a puddle compared to Sesshomaru's own vast power.

"It's nice to meet you," Kagome said, more to be polite than anything else.

The other yokai stiffened as she glowered at Kagome. "I demand you leave at once!"

Kagome opened her mouth to retort and then thought better of it. Sesshomaru might not appreciate her causing trouble with his guests and she'd need him in a good mood if she wanted to pick his brain later about the scroll. Instead, she shrugged. "Sure, but I haven't gotten through most of the library so I'm not sure you'd find what you're looking for," she said, trying to be helpful. "If you let me know what you want to read, I can try to help."

The other woman stared. "What?" she snapped, though she sounded more confused than angry.

"The library," Kagome prompted helpfully. "It seems that it's supposed to be kept up by the lady of the house, but I'm guessing no one's been down here in a really long time to organize it. I don't know who Sesshomaru will marry, but I don't envy her the task."

Frankly, now that Kagome's own searching might be done, she was content to let Sesshomaru deal with his own library. It would take someone years to properly organize and catalogue the library and Kagome didn't see a reason to waste so much of her time on a problem that wasn't hers.

Sesshomaru's family created the problem so he could take care of it, as far as Kagome was concerned.

"The library," the other woman repeated faintly, her eyes scanning the room and growing wider as she took in all of it. "The Western Lady is responsible for it?"

Kagome shrugged. "That's what Sesshomaru told me, at least. From what I can see, it would take his future wife _years_ to get it all back into order. Trust me, I know; I've been trying to find a scroll in here for _weeks_."

All hostility seemed to leave the yokai at once. "Years," she repeated, sounding lost. "But surely the great general has servants for this."

From that, Kagome gleamed that Sesshomaru must have inherited his father's title when he'd come into his own power.

"Evidently they're not too keen on maintaining this place," Kagome said dryly. "Sesshomaru said himself that it's a duty of his mate to maintain it as the mates of his ancestors have before him."

"He said this to you?" The yokai staggered in astonishment. "He gave you leave to address him so personally?"

Well, Sesshomaru hadn't exactly said she could, Kagome reflected, but he hadn't told her she couldn't, either. She finally nodded.

"And he allows you to organize this library as the mates of his line have before him?" Kagome could see the disappointment on the inuyokai's face before she nodded, resigned. "It seems this one has already lost, then. Very well. This one looks forward to hearing how one such as yourself managed to succeed when all others failed, Lady Kagome."

Kagome blinked, wondering why the inuyokai seemed so interested in Kagome's success in the library when she hadn't seemed interested before and completely missing the title the yokai had given her. "Um, it was nice meeting you..." she trailed off, realizing she didn't know the other woman's name.

"Lady Sayuri," the inuyokai offered immediately with a royal incline of her head. She turned to leave and then stopped abruptly, turning back to face Kagome. "You are the Shikon priestess, correct? This one has heard much of your exploits. When this one has mated, will you speak favorably to Sesshomaru of her future young?"

There seemed to be some hidden meaning in Sayuri's words but Kagome could find no logical reason to deny the request, either. Besides, the question might be moot since Kagome privately doubted she'd still be in the shiro by that point, so she nodded. "Of course, Lady Sayuri."

Sayuri smiled. "This one was pleased to meet you, Lady Kagome." With that, she inclined her head and then left the library.

Kagome sank back to the floor, resting her head against the wood. Suddenly, she was too tired to do anything at all, let alone chase down Sesshomaru for answers.

.

To her surprise, Sesshomaru sought _her_ out later.

"Tell this one why Lady Sayuri and her father are under the impression that we will be wed," he said darkly.

Kagome whirled to find Sesshomaru glowering down at her. She'd initially intended to leave the library after Sayuri, but after a short nap, she'd decided to see if there was another scroll relating to the jewel near where she'd found the first one.

It had seemed like a logical idea at the time, but now she was regretting her presence there. She'd made it all too easy for Sesshomaru to seek her out.

And then his words settled into her mind as she gaped at him. "_What_?!" she practically screeched. "I said no such thing! To either point, in fact. We were discussing the _library_," she stressed at his incredulous look. "Honestly, Sesshomaru, no one in their right mind would even _want_ to marry you if they knew this was the life that awaited them!"

"Fortunately," Sesshomaru continued as if she hadn't spoken, "she was also under the assumption that this one may choose to betroth one of his future children to one of hers and was willing to leave this one's shiro peacefully instead of pursuing an ill-advised attempt at matrimony with this one. In light of that, this one has decided not to render any undo action upon you."

Which was his fancy way of saying he wasn't going to do anything about it, Kagome guessed irritably.

She felt her temper snap at his pompous attitude, acting as if he was doing her some favor, though she tried desperately to hold it together. "Excuse me?" she hissed, jabbing a finger into his chest. She ignored how much it hurt to strike his powerful and chiseled pectoral muscles and jabbed him again for good measure. "You listen here, Sesshomaru! I am here for one thing and one thing only and _that_ is for information on the Shikon jewel! I don't care who you marry—no, I take that back. I _do_ care, if only so I can send her a bouquet of flowers in sympathy for the monumental task you'll be saddling her with!"

Sesshomaru stared at her, eyes wide in astonishment as his gaze shifted from her abdomen back up to her face.

"It's no wonder that Lady Sayuri made up a lie to get out of marrying you," Kagome continued, now too far into her rage to stop now. "She'd have to be crazy to marry you after learning what her life would be like! 'Clean up my library' is about as romantic as rock! Honestly, you and InuYasha are exactly alike in that respect. A woman likes to be romanced into a relationship, not ordered into one! But no, you expect that as long as you give her a roof over her head, she'll tolerate anything you give her, because you're a man and you can live your life however you want. As long as you provide for her, that's all that matters to you, right? I should purify you myself and save the rest of the women of the world the trouble!"

Kagome stopped, huffing as she tried to get air back into her lungs after her tirade. She wasn't sure when, exactly, her rant had turned into a litany of her problems with InuYasha, but she was too self-aware not to realize that's exactly what it had morphed into and she flushed with embarrassment as her eyes drifted to the floor.

She hesitantly met Sesshomaru's gaze a moment later to find that his astonishment had vanished. "You would dare threaten this one?" he asked neutrally, though it seemed as if each word was carefully chosen.

In spite of her best attempt, her temper welled right back up to the surface. "You think I can't purify you?" she demanded, insulted by how easily he seemed to handle that threat—albeit one she hadn't really meant. She felt her own power surge again with her anger, just as it had moments before.

His gaze seemed to grow heavy and dark as he stared down at her. "You could try," he said lowly, as if he was trying to goad her into doing exactly that.

Before Kagome could think better of lashing out against her host, she grabbed one of the thin wooden scroll holders that had lay empty on one of the shelves behind her and launched herself at him.

What happened next could only be described as chaos as Kagome's reiki rose to meet Sesshomaru's own growing yoki and the two distinct and opposite powers began to fight in what she'd later consider in an almost playful manner as Kagome and Sesshomaru brawled. Within a matter of minutes, she had him pinned to the floor, though she still wasn't entirely certain how she'd managed it.

But she couldn't deny how triumphant she felt seeing him underneath her. "Hah!" she crowed in delight. "I win."

"Hnn," was her answer as Sesshomaru stared up at her. His expression was so serious that she began to wonder if he'd intended this result after all. "Perhaps."

Kagome, feeling uncomfortable, moved to get up but found herself held in place by Sesshomaru's hands gripping her thighs. His claws exerted just enough pressure to let her know they were there, but not so much that they caused pain or drew blood.

"Um," she said, licking her lips as she struggled to find a way to tactfully ask him to let her get up without starting another fight. "Isn't it time for dinner?"

"This one has already recently partaken of a meal." If it was anyone else, she'd have said he said the words teasingly, but that seemed the wrong connotation to apply to Sesshomaru.

"Right." Kagome licked her dry lips. "Well, I haven't."

Sesshomaru's brows raised as his gaze shifted over to the empty tray a short distance away from them.

Kagome flushed as she recalled that she had, in fact, recently eaten as well. "Right," she said again, "well, then I really should get up and get some sleep, Sesshomaru." She began to move to do exactly that, hoping that, this time, he'd let her go.

"Do you not wish to claim your victory?" Sesshomaru's words stopped her.

She blinked at him. What prize was she supposed to collect.

"Or," Sesshomaru said slowly, a tiny smile forming at his lips, "perhaps you would prefer instead if this one claimed _his_?"

At that, Sesshomaru suddenly moved, flipping Kagome on her back as he loomed over her. He pressed himself against her, tucking her head into his shoulder with what seemed like supreme gentleness.

"Perhaps if this one does this," he whispered lowly in her ear as an odd tingling feeling began to spread with heat throughout Kagome's body, "you might see reason to threaten him so deliciously again. It is unlikely you would win should you decide to try again, but this one finds great enjoyment in watching you try."

"Try what?" Kagome squeaked, squirming as his breath ticked her ear.

"This one senses the great power within you when you try," he murmured as if she hadn't spoken, his mouth so close to her earlobe that he was practically kissing it. "It is _enticing_." The last word left his lips on practically a purr. "Kagome, the Shikon priestess."

Kagome could suddenly sense the jewel within her just as Sesshomaru's face moved closer, distracting her instantly with the soft press of his lips against her own. And Kagome, to her own surprise, kissed him back with equal passion, enjoying the sensation of his soft lips against hers.

And with that, she stopped thinking about anything else but the feel of the male above her, holding her to him like he never intended on letting her go.

.

Kagome stared at the small wreck of their clothing laying in a heap by their cooling bodies, hoping fervently that no servants chose to walk in on the library and find them. She didn't think her ego would survive that sort of exposure anymore than she'd survive Sesshomaru's own haughty delight in sharing that they would get married after all—he'd asked her moments before and without thinking, Kagome had agreed. She probably would have agreed to anything as long as he didn't stop and she fully suspected he'd exploited that moment for precisely that reason.

_Irritating yokai._

There was, however, one thing Kagome was very much looking forward to sharing—telling Bokuseno that he'd been right after all. The jewel had, in deed, returned within her, for better or for worse—only time would tell.

Bokuseno had also been right in that the jewel within her had amused Sesshomaru. Amused and, she admitted to herself with a flush, aroused, but she decided she'd leave that part out—though she had the uncomfortable feeling the old magnolia tree already knew.

_Yokai_, she thought to herself with mild irritation. They all seemed to enjoy causing her trouble.

Sesshomaru simply caused her more trouble than most.

She looked over at the male dozing beside her. At least he was attractive, she reassured herself, because she had the feeling she'd be seeing his face for a long, long time. She would just have to work on that attitude of his because if he thought she was going to keep working on his library without help simply because it was tradition, well, they'd probably end up back in this position all over again.

She suddenly remembered an old English saying she'd heard on TV before: _may your life never be dull_. Well, if she knew one thing for certain, hers would not be dull anytime soon if today's events were any indication.

But this time, this man, she knew, would be different. Sesshomaru had never ran from his problems before and she doubted he would start now. No, he was here with her for the long haul, and that alone convinced her that they could weather anything else. It wasn't love, not yet, but she had the comfortable feeling that they'd have that conversation soon enough.

She had finally found a place to call home. She curled herself around Sesshomaru and dozed off herself with a tiny smile.


End file.
